American voters say 81 - 16 percent that the government should limit executive compensation at
companies receiving federal help, and say 47 - 44 percent that boards of directors and top
managers at these companies should be forced to resign, according to a Quinnipiac University
national poll released today.

Support for income limits is strong among Democrats, Republicans and independent
voters and in all income groups, but the call for forced resignations drops as income rises.

American voters say 51 - 45 percent that President Barack Obama's new budget, which
doubles the national debt in 10 years, is needed to fix the economy and address issues such as
education and health care, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.
President Obama's budget wins 80 - 16 percent support from Democrats and 50 - 46 percent
support from independent voters, while Republicans say 76 - 20 percent it is too costly.

Executives at failing companies are victims of circumstances, 14 percent of voters say, but
39 percent say these executives are incompetent and 35 percent say they are guilty of fraud.

"President Barack Obama may be trying to dampen the populist rhetoric, but the
American people are mad as hell and aren't taking it anymore. They want to vent their anger on
the wealthy and on business. They think the folks who got the country into the financial mess
are both stupid and crooked and want the government to burn them at the stake," said Peter
Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"They want to limit pay for executives whose company takes federal money and almost
one in three want to limit executive pay even for companies that don't take bailout money."

Only 10 percent of American voters say executives who received bonuses from
companies helped by the government should keep the bonuses. Other choices are:

22 percent want the government to ask the executives to voluntarily give the money back;

30 percent want the government to cut off funding until the bonuses are repaid;

16 percent say tax the bonuses at 90 percent;

2 percent say sue the executives to get the money back;

13 percent say launch criminal investigations to get the money back.

President Obama's Approval and Budget

American voters approve 58 - 31 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing,
compared to 59 - 25 percent in a March 4 Quinnipiac University poll. Support is strongest,
69 - 26 percent, among voters 18 to 29 years old and declines with age. Voters approve 55 - 37
percent of the way President Obama is handling the economy and approve 56 - 25 percent of the
way he is handling foreign policy.

Voters disapprove 59 - 30 percent of the job Republicans in Congress are doing and
disapprove 49 - 40 percent of the job Democrats in Congress are doing.

Voters say 47 - 28 percent, with 21 percent undecided, that Obama's call for higher taxes
on those making more than $250,000 a year is good for the economy. Voters in that higher
income bracket disagree 41 - 29 percent, with 27 percent undecided.

By a 50 - 43 percent margin, voters oppose the plan to spend $1 trillion to buy up bad
loans from banks, but voters split 37 - 35 percent, with 28 percent undecided, in their approval
of the job Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is doing.

"About the only Obama initiative voters don't support is his $1 trillion plan to buy bad
loans from banks - because they view it as taking their hard-earned money to help rich bankers,"
Brown said. "Republican efforts to convince the American people that President Obama is going
too far are not working. Voters don't seem to be upset by the huge dollars that the President
wants to spend, even when told that his budget would double the national debt in a decade."

From March 24 - 30, Quinnipiac University surveyed 2,326 American voters with a
margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed - http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, or call (203) 582-5201.

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as
president?

19. The Obama administration just announced a new one trillion dollar program
to buy bad loans from banks. Which comes closer to your view - it should be
done because this is a necessary step to give banks the ability to lend again
so that businesses and individuals can get credit needed to restart the
economy, or it should not be done because the program risks too much taxpayer
money and there is no guarantee the taxpayer will ever be paid back?

22. As you may know, some companies taking federal funds have given large
bonuses to their executives. What do you think the government should do about
this - A) Let them keep the bonuses; B) Ask the executives to voluntarily give
back their bonuses; C) Cut off future government funds for these companies,
until the money is returned; D) Tax the bonuses at 90 percent; E) Sue the
executives to recover the money; or F) Launch a criminal investigation to get
the money back?

23. Who do you blame most for these bonuses - A) The executives who are
accepting bonuses when they are partly responsible for their companies failing;
B) The companies for using taxpayer money to pay the bonuses; or C) The
government for allowing loopholes that made it possible for the bonuses to be
paid?

25. Do you think executives of companies that are taking federal money to avoid
collapse are the victims of circumstances no one could have anticipated, or are
they incompetent, or are they guilty of criminal fraud?

28. As you may know, President Obama has just proposed his budget. Critics say
his budget is too costly because it would double the national debt in ten years.
Supporters say the money is necessary to fix the economic crisis and address
national problems such as education and health care. Which comes closer to
your point of view?